The summer season at Vista’s Moonlight Amphitheatre always features one show that’s a risk, an edgier musical with less broad appeal that pushes the company artistically.

This summer’s risk is the rock opera “The Who’s Tommy,” which closes the first season under new artistic director Steven Glaudini. It’s a bold and grown-up choice for the usually conservative company, but Glaudini wants the word to get out on what has been for many years Vista’s best-kept secret.

“Tommy” opened Wednesday, which happened to be Glaudini’s birthday, and he has much to celebrate. Every show this summer has broken a box-office record. July’s “The Wizard of Oz” was the best-selling show in Moonlight history. Just-closed “Young Frankenstein” came in at No. 4, and June’s “South Pacific” is No. 6. But “Tommy” is going to be a harder sell.

“The Who’s Tommy” had its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 1983 and went on to win several Tony Awards on Broadway. Featuring songs and lyrics for former The Who guitarist Pete Townshend and a virtually dialogue-free book by Townshend and former Playhouse chief Des McAnuff, it’s the story of a 4-year-old English boy who retreats into a catatonic state when he witnesses a murder (his MIA soldier father kills his mother’s lover when he returns unexpectedly from World War II). The helpless Tommy is sexually abused by his Uncle Ernie and bullied by his Cousin Kevin for 15 years, until he discovers a pinball machine and slowly begins to emerge from his shell. His miraculous recovery makes him an icon, but he rejects the adulation and ultimately forgives his tormentors.

Director/choreographer John Vaughan’s production is coherent, fluid and well sung in a streamlined staging that uses video projections and simple scenic elements (doorways, mirror frames and wood platforms) by John Patrick that keep the two-hour show’s pacing swift. But dramatically, this “Tommy” is a mixed bag.

Liam James Brandt, left, as Tommy at age 10, and Eddie Egan as the adult Tommy in Moonlight Stage Productions' "The Who's Tommy" at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. CREDIT: Ken Jacques

Liam James Brandt, left, as Tommy at age 10, and Eddie Egan as the adult Tommy in Moonlight Stage Productions' "The Who's Tommy" at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. CREDIT: Ken Jacques

There are some clever directorial ideas. When Tommy witnesses the murder, the audience gets trapped inside his head — a black-and-white world where the crime is replayed over and over like a rewinding videotape. There’s also neat use of the stage trap door for paratroopers and some terrific ’60s/’70s dance choreography.

But the raw, gritty, ear-burning energy of Townshend’s score is too polite and toned down. Musical director/conductor Terry O’Donnell’s eight-piece orchestra, visible in a loft at center stage, could use a young guitarist out front, doing some Townshend-style windmills on the guitar to beef up the energy.

Tommy is often portrayed as a messianic character, but Vaughan’s staging makes him instead a ’70s-style rock star, ably portrayed by charismatic rock tenor Eddie Egan. The show standout is Paul Morgavo as Uncle Eddie, whose beyond-creepy performance in “Fiddle About” (the molestation song, accompanied here by video projections of wandering hands) is both chilling and disturbing. Mark Bartlett is electric as Cousin Kevin, and Misty Cotton and Jason W. Webb give solid support as Tommy’s long-suffering parents. Anise Ritchie is a fiery Gypsy/Acid Queen and leading the big ensemble vocally with strong voices are Benjamin Lopez, Tom Fitzsimons and Chelsea Emma Franko. And young actors Josh Bradford and Liam James Brandt are poised and focused as Tommy at age 4 and age 10, respectively.

The rented costumes, coordinated by the team of Roslyn Lehman, Renetta Lloyd and Carlotta Malone, start out simple, then explode into riotous color in the second act, with some oddball ensembles perhaps inspired by pinball game figures and Cirque du Soleil's Beatles show in Las Vegas. One misstep in the show's properties design is the over-the-top props for the Acid Queen's number, where two dancers perform with cheesy oversized hypodermic needles.

"The Who's Tommy" is an adult, edgy show that may not appeal to some Moonlight subscribers. Wednesday's opening-night performance was the smallest all season, no doubt because of the musical's content. Glaudini wants to expand Moonlight's audience, both geographically and age-wise, in order to ensure the company's long-term survival. Even if "Tommy" isn't every theatergoer's cup of English tea, it's part of a strategy by Glaudini that is working very well just one season in.